Enid Blyton in the Public Domain in Some Countries

[Debbie]

I think that whoever owns the Faded Page has an absolute cheek they are using my scans of Enid Blyton books straight out of the Cave and further more taking descriptions of the novels straight from those in the Cave.

I guess you guys all love this site, but parasites who just use other people's work to make themselves look good make me sick.

Surely that would be against copyright issues, for the words at least? I'm not sure about scans though. Photos of the books would be owned by the taker, but not sure how that works for scans.

[Lucky Star]

I think that whoever owns the Faded Page has an absolute cheek they are using my scans of Enid Blyton books straight out of the Cave and further more taking descriptions of the novels straight from those in the Cave.

I guess you guys all love this site, but parasites who just use other people's work to make themselves look good make me sick.

First time I've ever heard of Faded Page and it sounds like a useful resource but basically stealing another person's work is nasty. As I don't have a kindle or other reading device I never visit sites like that anyway.

EDIT: I've just had a a brief look and was amazed to find for The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage that they do indeed have Julie's summary as well as the scan up. Very cheeky indeed.

[pete9012S]

I agree with Tony - It is a shame the site is doing that.

I use Faded Page to find really old Golden Age detection books and thrillers from the beginning of the 20th Century that I would in no way be otherwise able to read.

Here's one I read recently which I think is legitimate:

Title: The Door of Death
Author:
Shellabarger, Samuel Writing under the pseudonym: Esteven, John
Published: 1928
Publisher: The Century Co.
Tags: fiction, mystery
Description:
Dr. Richard Ames accepts an invitation to visit Greyhouse in order to observe it's mistress whose behavior has become most peculiar. Is it the house or her brilliant and unscrupulous husband who is driving her mad? - Google Books. [Suggest a different description.]

https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20200810" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Kate Mary]

I must admit I've never noticed that the descriptions and scans were taken from the Society website, it is a cheek to say the least that they are using them without permission. The Enid Blyton texts on Faded Page are quite legitimate but are the descriptions taken from the EBS site an infringement of copyright?

[Wolfgang]

That's a pity, Wolfgang. You'd think they'd be able to find a way of blocking certain titles while still allowing others.

As it is a matter of principle, they rather block the country (or countries, if others are also involved) than just blocking access to certain titles.

Yes, a worldwide copyright system would be great, but that's not in the interest of many copyrightright holders. Extensions of copyrights are frequently worth billions.

[pete9012S]

I think at the very least it would be polite to ask Tony for permission to use scans/reviews/information from his site on Faded Page.

At least then he would have the choice if he wanted the information he has compiled for his own use to be used in this way?

[IceMaiden]

I've never heard of either site but the copyright information is an eye-opener. I wouldn't have thought copyright had an 'expiry date' as surely even if an author is deceased, by however long, their work is still their work whether it's 10, 50 or 500 years since they wrote it. If someone can come along several decades after you're gone and lay claim to your work what is the point of copyrighting it in the first place?

[GloomyGraham]

Being an Aussie, I appreciate sites like gutenberg & faded pages.

It's not just the chance to read long out-of-print obscure books (especially non-fiction) but great to be able to get electronic copies of books I own.

Although I have just about every Blyton (or Narnia) book published, it's nice to be able to read them online (and take them with me when I travel) rather than going through dozens of boxes of books to find a particular story I might want to read.

So besides being legal in my country, I also think already owning the books in question means that I can't be accused of 'theft'.

Some publishers could also be considered guilty of theft. One author, Alan Moore, who wrote the graphic novel 'Watchmen' in the 1980s, wrote into his contract with DC Comics that the intellectual property would revert to him after the initial comic and graphic novels were printed. To avoid this, DC Comics has kept this property in publication for the past 30-odd years. As such, Moore swore to never write for them again.

DC comics even allowed other writers to put out new stories, movies and TV series featuring his creations. Moore has refused to accept (the considerable) royalties for adaptations of his work as a matter of principle.

[db105]

Merged with an older topic.


Are there any forum members in Canada? Enid Blyton is in the public domain in countries with a life + 50 years copyright law, like Canada.

This is a Canadian page, similar to Project Gutenberg, where her books are legally available as ebooks. They have most of her most popular series and individual works and they are adding the rest.

https://www.fadedpage.com/csearch.php?a ... on,%20Enid" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However, it's only legal to download for people who are in countries with life + 50 copyright law (which does not include Europe or the US). You can check here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of ... ht_lengths" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Tony Summerfield]

Faded Page have taken numerous images and reviews straight off our website without asking, so they are not my favourite website. I am also pretty sure that people in the UK and Europe cannot download these books legally.

[db105]

I see the topic was already covered. Sorry for not searching better.

I am also pretty sure that people in the UK and Europe cannot download these books legally.

That's correct. In most countries Enid Blyton's work is still copyrighted, so downloading her books is not legal yet in those countries.

For things like checking whether something has seen changed in your modern edition from the original text it can still be useful, though.

[Anita Bensoussane]

No worries about the topic being similar to an existing one, Db105. I merged the threads because it's good to have all the information and responses together.

[Pet]

In most countries Enid Blyton's work is still copyrighted, so downloading her books is not legal yet in those countries.

I think it's worth adding that, in the internet age, this is a bad law because it's unenforceable. In my view, the existence of laws that are not only unenforced but unenforceable brings the law into disrepute.

Legal enforcement needs to apply to the internet, but it scarcely does so at all. If an organisation were to police the internet, I feel sure that copyright violations would (and should) be a long way down their agenda. I regularly receive emails designed to steal my money. I assume that there's no country in which it's legally permissible to steal money. Yet who even tries to catch criminals who attempt to steal money online?

Essentially, it no longer makes sense, and is damaging, to have authors in copyright in one country but not in others. The sooner laws on this are harmonised the better. It seems to me that fifty years after an author's death is more than long enough. Writing is work that's paid slowly, fair enough. Perhaps dependents deserve to receive royalties after an author's death, but within fifty years the dependents ought to be able to support themselves. I'm a writer, but have no dependents. I would be perfectly satisfied to have my copyrights expire as soon as I die.

[Boatbuilder]

Welcome to the forum, Pet. We hope you enjoy it here.

There is a source within the confines of the police establishment in the UK where you can report scam emails designed to scam you out of money, etc. I have reported one or two in recent years, although if anything happened beyond that, I don't know. I would guess they are inundated with them.

https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

An image here gives some info: https://www.psni.police.uk/globalassets ... d-info.png" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Pet]

Thank you, boatbuilder, for both the welcome and the information. I imagine that they are inundated. It would be pleasant to be able to summon up a policeman after the manner of a Famous Five denouement, a policeman who would take the villains away in handcuffs.